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Sequential DC magnetron sputtering and rapid thermal processing appear very promising to fabricate CZTS- based thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar cells with regards to existent environmental and industrial issues. However, their state-of-the-art efficiency remains limited to about 10% to date. In this work, we aim at opti-mizing the optical and electrical properties of the CZTS absorber by an extensive screening of their correlation with the material composition. This is widely varied by different deposition (i.e. thickness of precursors) and process (i.e. RTP) conditions. We assess the impact of absorber composition on the energy bandgap, absorption coefficient, p-type carrier concentration and mobility. The most important results lie in the extensive analysis of the inverse power-law trend for carrier concentration versus mobility and logarithmic trend versus bandgap. Our conclusions point the optimal composition ratios towards Cu-poor and less than actual target Zn-rich range. As a result, a potential roadmap is drawn up based on presented experimental results and SCAPS simulations in order to reach more than 10% cell efficiency with the target technology.

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Compounds Sr3-xPrxFe1.25Ni0.75O7- with 0 x 0.4 and Ruddlesden-Popper n = 2 type structures were synthesized and investigated by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, thermogravimetry, and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Both samples, prepared at 1300 degrees C under N-2(g) flow and samples subsequently air-annealed at 900 degrees C, were studied. The structures contained oxygen vacancies in the perovskite layers, and the Fe/Ni cations had an average coordination number less than six. The oxygen content was considerably higher for air-annealed samples than for samples prepared under N-2, 7 - = similar to 6.6 and similar to 5.6 per formula unit, respectively. Mossbauer data collected at 7 K, below magnetic ordering temperatures, were consistent with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and neutron powder diffraction (NPD) results. The electrical conductivity was considerably higher for the air-annealed samples and was for x = 0.1 similar to 30 Scm(-1) at 500 degrees C. The thermal expansion coefficients were measured in air between room temperature and 900 degrees C and was found to be 20-24 ppmK(-1) overall.

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The synthesis of a metal-organic framework (UiO-67) functionalised simultaneously with two different transition metal complexes (Ir and Pd or Rh) through a one-pot procedure is reported for the first time. This has been achieved by an iterative modification of the synthesis parameters combined with characterisation of the resulting materials using different techniques, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The method also allows the first synthesis of UiO-67 with a very wide range of loadings (from 4 to 43 mol%) of an iridium complex ([IrCp*(bpydc)(Cl)Cl](2-); bpydc=2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-dicarboxylate, Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) through a pre-functionalisation methodology., AuthorCount:5

Ruddlesden-Popper n=2 member phases Sr3-xYxFe1.25Ni0.75O7-delta, 0 <= x <= 0.75, have been investigated by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, thermogravimetry and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Both samples as-prepared at 1300 degrees C under N-2(g) flow and samples subsequently air-annealed at 900 degrees C were studied. The as-prepared x=0.75 phase is highly oxygen deficient with delta=1, the O1 atom site being vacant, and the Fe3+/Ni2+ ions having a square pyramidal coordination. For as-prepared phases with lower x values, the Mossbauer spectral data are in good agreement with the presence of both 5- and 4-coordinated Fe3+ ions, implying in addition a partial occupancy of the O3 atom sites that form the basal plane of the square pyramid. The air-annealed x=0.75 sample has a delta value of 0.61(1) and the structure has Fe/Ni ions in both square pyramids and octahedra. Mossbauer spectroscopy shows the phase to contain only Fe3+, implying that all Ni is present as Ni3+. Air-annealed phases with lower x values are found to contain both Fe3+ and Fe4+. For both the as-prepared and the air-annealed samples, the Y3+ cations are found to be mainly located in the perovskite block. The high-temperature thermal expansion of as-prepared and air-annealed x=0.75 phases were investigated by high-temperature X-ray diffraction and dilatometry and the linear thermal expansion coefficient determined to be 14.4 ppm K-1. Electrical conductivity measurements showed that the air-annealed samples have higher conductivity than the as-prepared ones.

A direct impact of substrate on the back contact properties of thin-film solar cells cannot be neglected in case of metallic sheets, mainly, because of roughness and impurities diffusion. In this work, the influence of substrate roughness on Mo back contact sheet resistance was preliminary studied. The roughness of different substrates was analyzed by DEKTAK 150 profilometer. Next, an advanced Mo back contact was deposited. Finally, the resulting sheet resistance of the back contact was measured by 4-point probe technique.

Two highly porous gamma-aluminas, a commercial catalyst obtained from the calcination of boehmite and a highly mesoporous product obtained from amorphous aluminum (oxy)hydroxide via a sol-gel-based process were investigated by Al-27 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of synchrotron powder diffraction data. NMR data showed for both materials a distribution of tetrahedrally and octahedrally coordinated Al at a 0.30:0.70 ratio, which is typical for gamma-aluminas. TEM studies revealed that rod-shaped particles with about 5 nm in thickness are the building blocks of the porous structure in both materials. These particles often extend to a length of 50 nm in the commercial catalyst and are considerably shorter in the sol-gel-based material, which has a higher surface area. Refinement of PDFs revealed the presence of a similar to 1 nm scale local structure and the validity of a tetragonal average structure for both materials. This tetragonal average structure contains a substantial fraction of non-spinel octahedral Al atoms. It is argued that the presence of local structure is a general feature of gamma-alumina, independent of precursor and synthesis conditions. The concentration of non-spinel Al atoms seems to correlate with surface properties, and increases with increasing pore size/surface area. This should have implications to the catalytic properties of porous gamma-alumina., AuthorCount:7

A range of titanium silicates (ETS-4 and CTS-1) with interesting gas separation properties were studied as CO2 adsorbents. Some of these adsorbents, in particular NaMg-CTS-1, showed the ability to selectively adsorb CO2-over-N2. Partially exchanged NaM-ETS-4 (M = Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba) were synthesised in the Na+ form and ion exchanged with group 2 cations. All but NaBa-ETS-4 transformed into their CTS-1 counterparts, when these partially exchanged Na-ETS-4 were dehydrated. The transformation from ETS-4 to CTS-1 was monitored and studied extensively using diffraction and spectroscopic techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction allowed us to follow the changes of the unit cell parameters occurred at different temperatures. We combined high energy X-ray total scattering (analysed by pair distribution functions – PDF analysis), electron diffraction, infrared, Raman and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to study the transformation of ETS-4 to CTS-1. We understood that under dehydration steps, there was significant disruption to the Ti–O–Ti chain along the b-axis, which occurred concurrently with the distortion of the double 3-rings alongside of these chains. These changes were partly responsible for the contraction of the ETS-4 framework (and successive transformation to CTS-1). The new information allowed us to understand the interesting structures and sorption properties of these adsorbents, CO2

Palladium nanoparticles have been immobilized into an amino-functionalized metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-101Cr-NH2, to form Pd@MIL-101Cr-NH2. Four materials with different loadings of palladium have been prepared (denoted as 4-, 8-, 12-, and 16wt%Pd@MIL-101Cr-NH2). The effects of catalyst loading and the size and distribution of the Pd nanoparticles on the catalytic performance have been studied. The catalysts were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), N-2-sorption isotherms, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). To better characterize the palladium nanoparticles and their distribution in MIL-101Cr-NH2, electron tomography was employed to reconstruct the 3D volume of 8wt%Pd@MIL-101Cr-NH2 particles. The pair distribution functions (PDFs) of the samples were extracted from total scattering experiments using high-energy X-rays (60keV). The catalytic activity of the four MOF materials with different loadings of palladium nanoparticles was studied in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. The best catalytic performance was obtained with the MOF that contained 8wt% palladium nanoparticles. The metallic palladium nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed, with an average size of 2.6nm. Excellent yields were obtained for a wide scope of substrates under remarkably mild conditions (water, aerobic conditions, room temperature, catalyst loading as low as 0.15mol%). The material can be recycled at least 10times without alteration of its catalytic properties., AuthorCount:9

Prussian blue, a hydrated iron(III) hexacyanoferrate(II) complex, is a synthetic pigment discovered in Berlin in 1704. Because of both its highly intense color and its low cost, Prussian blue was widely used as a pigment in paintings until the 1970s. The early preparative methods were rapidly recognized as a contributory factor in the fading of the pigment, a fading already known by the mid-eighteenth century. Herein two typical eighteenth-century empirical recipes have been reproduced and the resulting pigment analyzed to better understand the reasons for this fading. X-ray absorption and Mossbauer spectroscopy indicated that the early syntheses lead to Prussian blue together with variable amounts of an undesirable iron(III) product. Pair distribution functional analysis confirmed the presence of nanocrystalline ferrihydrite, Fe10O14(OH)(2), and also identified the presence of alumina hydrate, Al10O14(OH)(2), with a particle size of similar to 15 angstrom. Paint layers prepared from these pigments subjected to accelerated light exposure showed a tendency to turn green, a tendency that was often reported in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century books. The presence of particles of hydrous iron(III) oxides was also observed in a genuine eighteenth-century Prussian blue sample obtained from a polychrome sculpture., AuthorCount:7

Prussian blue, a mixed valence pigment, typically KFeIII[Fe-II(CN)(6)]center dot xH(2)O, was the most widely used blue artistic pigment from ca. 1720 to the 1970's but, unfortunately, its paint layers, especially when used in conjunction with a white pigment, tend to fade or turn green upon extended exposure to light. In order to identify the mechanism underlying these changes, paint layers have been prepared with differing amounts of these white pigments and subjected to accelerated light exposure fading. The resulting unfaded and faded paint layers as well as both the Berlin white pigment, Fe-2(II)[Fe-II(CN)(6)], and the partially oxidized Berlin green pigment, {KFeIII[Fe-II(CN)(6)]}(x){Fe-III[Fe-III(CN)(6)]}(1-x), have been characterized by Raman and iron-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy. The results indicate that, upon fading, the Prussian blue pigment painted with a linseed oil binder and (PbCO3)(2)Pb(OH)(2) or ZnO, and to a lesser extent with TiO2, undergoes a reduction at the exposed paint surface and an oxidation in the bulk of the paint layer. This combined reduction and oxidation disrupts, at least in part, the Fe-III-N-C-Fe-II intervalent electron transfer pathways in Prussian blue thus leading to pigment fading through a reduction in the intervalent electron transfer absorbance at about 700 nm., AuthorCount:5

Two families of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), MIL-88 and MIL-101 built by trinuclear transition metal (TM) clusters (TM = Cr, Fe, or Sc), have been known for several years, but their syntheses are often reported separately. In fact, these MOFs are polymorphs, or framework isomers: they are assembled from the same metal secondary building units and organic linkers, but the connectivity of these components differs. Here we report for the first time the synthesis of the vanadium MOF MIL-88B(V) and compare its synthesis parameters to those of MIL-47(V) and the recently reported MIL-101(V). The properties of MIL-88B(V) and MIL-101(V) are remarkably different. MIL-88B(V) can breathe and is responsive to different solvents, while MIL-101(V) is rigid and contains mesoporous cages. MIL-101(V) exhibits the highest specific surface area among vanadium MOFs discovered so far. In addition, both MIL-88B(V) and MIL-101(V) transform to MIL-47 at higher temperatures. We have also identified the key synthesis parameters that control the formation of MIL-88B(V), MIL-101(V), and MIL-47: temperature, time, and pH. This relates to the rate of reaction between the metal and linkers, which has been monitored by ex situ X-ray powder diffraction and V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy during MOF synthesis. It is therefore important to fully study the synthesis conditions to improve our understanding of framework isomerism in MOFs., AuthorCount:7